Corrugated tubes have circumferential grooves aligned in multiple steps in the longitudinal direction and can withstand bending, for which reason wire harnesses and the like are often used in automobile body panels. Clamps for attaching corrugated tubes to body panels are known. A clamp for corrugated tubes described in JP H2-034883/1990 comprises a main fastener body for mounting and holding a corrugated tube, a body attachment part for attaching the main fastener body to a body panel and a fastener cover that is coupled by a hinge to the main fastener body and capable of turning so as to close the main fastener body, for pressing a corrugated tube, mounted in the main fastener body in the closed state wherein the main fastener body has been closed, against the main fastener body, and working in concert with the main fastener body to hold the corrugated tube.
In the fastener cover of the clamp, cited in JP H2-034883/1990, elastic pressing pieces are provided which protrude on the main fastener body side, for handling cases where the diameters of the corrugated tubes being held differ. With this fastener cover, when seeking to hold a corrugated tube of small diameter, the elastic pressing pieces try to press against the main fastener body, but that pressing force is small; therefore, there is a danger that the corrugated tube will wobble, and that it will not be possible to hold them adequately.
In JP 2003-018727, a clamp is described which comprises a tube fastener for fastening a corrugated tube, and a harness fastener, formed integrally [with] and adjacent to the tube fastener, for winding [about] a wire harness coming from the tube fastener. This clamp is not for fastening a corrugated tube to a body panel, but is rather for fastening a wire harness to a corrugated tube. The harness fastener comprises a band. The band is tightly tightened with the harness fastener that is wound [about] a wire harness, and in this way, the tube fastener adjacent to the harness fastener is fastened to the wire harness. Accordingly, there is no structure in the clamp of JP 2003-018727 for attaching corrugated tubes of differing diameter to a body panel.
The clamp of JP 2006-138445 comprises a main fastener body for mounting and holding a corrugated tube and a fastener cover that is coupled by a hinge to the main fastener body, capable of turning so as to close the main fastener body for pressing a corrugated tube, mounted in the main fastener body in the closed state wherein the main fastener body has been closed, against the main fastener body, and working in concert with the main fastener body to hold the corrugated tube. In this clamp, there is no body attachment part for attaching to a body panel. In order to hold corrugated tubes of differing diameter, moreover, fastener cover locking pawls are formed in two stages; main fastener body locking pawls are also formed in two stages, and the differing diameters are dealt with by varying the combination of engagements of those locking pawls. This configuration has the advantage of being able to handle corrugated tubes of differing diameter with a single fastener cover, but still leaves room for improvement on the point of corrugated tube holding.
That being so, an object of the present invention is to provide a clamp for corrugated tubes that is capable of holding a corrugated tube with adequate holding force, whether that corrugated tube is one of large diameter or one of small diameter.